The topic of conversation ahead of Thursday’s game against the visiting Dallas Stars — and, also, since Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks — had been about their slow starts. How important it was to play a full 60 minutes instead of the final 20 minutes that they decided to show up for on Tuesday. And also, in case they forgot, Hartley even reminded them that puck drop was at 7 p.m.

“(Before the game) Bob said, ‘Let’s make sure we’re ready to start,’ ” Cammalleri was saying as the Flames finished their preparations at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “ ’Or, if you guys want, we can play three third periods (like Tuesday). However you guys want to figure it out for yourselves.’ Pretty clever by him. So, maybe we can just pretend it’s the third.

“I play pretend a lot with my daughter at home. Maybe we can somehow convince ourselves that it’s the third period to start the game.”

Well, the message seemed to be lost as Tyler Seguin and his linemate and Stars captain Jamie Benn ran amok and almost single-handedly beat the Flames 7-3, handing Calgary its fifth-straight defeat.

Down by a 5-1 count heading into the final frame, the Calgarians showed a bit of life.

After treading water for 40 minutes, it started with a dust-up on a Flames’ power play in front of Kari Lehtonen’s net when Stephane Robidas took exception to Lee Stempniak’s conduct. Jiri Hudler and Sean Monahan were in on it while Stars bruiser Antoine Roussel gave Cammalleri an extra shot away from the play. David Jones connected on the power play, chipping in a Kris Russell point shot, as Matt Stajan muscled in a garbage goal — short-handed while Sven Baertschi was serving a double-minor for high-sticking Alex Goligoski. But that was about it.

Meanwhile, the born-again Seguin’s four goals went like this: the first was 1:19 into the second, the second caused the Flames to pull goalie Reto Berra for Karri Ramo, and two to seal the game in the third. Benn and Ryan Garbutt pumped in singles.

Their first period on Thursday was better than Tuesday’s opening frame — but not by much.

While the shots on goal were 17-3 after 20 minutes against the Sharks, the Stars managed to out-shoot the home boys 11-6. Stars defenceman Stephane Robidas opened the scoring at the 6:27 mark, but it wasn’t until the end of the opening frame that the Flames found their legs. Mikael Backlund had blocked a Sergei Gonchar shot and went for a skate to gain a faceoff in the offensive zone. On the following shift, Lee Stempniak delivered a solid hit on the other Benn brother — Jordie — while, on the shift immediately after, Sven Baertschi took on Stephane Robidas and Tyler Seguin in the corner.

The second period, however, was when the wheels really fell off as the Stars scored five (!) unanswered goals.

The frustrated Calgarians finally hit the scoresheet with less than five minutes in the third when Stajan, accepting a cross-ice pass heading into the Stars’ zone, ripped a slapshot through Lehtonen’s five-hole. At that point, it was only their 12th shot on net.

With both Flames’ toughies in the lineup, Brian McGrattan and birthday boy Tim Jackman (who was also playing his 400th game) in the lineup, you’d have thought one of them would have kept the energy up by dropping the gloves. But, no, instead it was Shane O’Brien who fought Stars winger Roussel shortly after the Flames scored.

A healthy scratch against San Jose, O’Brien, who had been on a defence pairing with newcomer Ladislav Smid for the first time Thursday against the Stars, had noticed a few things from the press box. How they were chasing the game too much, maybe. And how the Sharks seemed to always have the puck on their sticks.

Which was sort of the identical situation the Flames were in on Thursday.

“We’d get it and either ice it or chip it away,” O’Brien had been saying about Tuesday’s performance. “Maybe that’s just a lack of confidence in our game or whatever but we’ve got to find a way to make plays and to continue to hang onto the puck, and give the puck to our forwards when they have speed and they can attack. If you get it standing still, you’re not going to beat anybody in this league.

“You have to chip it in. Chances are, your forecheck won’t be very good. We just have to play with a little more confidence and hang onto the puck a little more.”

Luckily, the Flames (6-10-3) get right back on the horse Saturday when they host the Edmonton Oilers (4-14-2) whom the Stars had blanked 3-0 less than 24 hours before visiting Calgary.

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